When a 22-year-old woman from South 24-Parganas went to Uttar Pradesh last week, her two-year-old daughter in tow, she knew she would be working as a cook in a household.
She was allegedly forced to join a dance troupe and beaten up when she refused to engage in prostitution.
A video of the alleged abuse, that the woman got hold of and shared with her family back home, triggered a chain of events that led to her rescue on April 26, within less than a week of her travel to Ballia.
The woman, her daughter and three accused were found during a raid in a house in Isarpitha Patti, a village in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday morning.
The accused are Rubina Bibi, Sujan Jamadar and Hasibul Sheikh. They have been arrested.
“The woman was lured with the offer of a job as a cook. Rubina, the prime accused, met the survivor through a relative and befriended her. The survivor took her daughter along because her husband does not live with her,” said Kakali Ghosh Kundu, the inspector in charge of Baruipur women’s police station and anti-human trafficking unit.
“The alleged traffickers first forced the survivor to join an orchestra. She performed at a couple of dances at social gatherings. But Rubina and her aides then tried to force her into prostitution. When she refused, she was beaten up and the assault was filmed,” said Virender Singh of Mission Mukti Foundation, an NGO that helped the police in the rescue.
“The woman had her phone taken away.... But she managed to not only get hold of the phone but got the clip as well, which she sent to her mother’s number. She showed great presence of mind,” said Ghosh Kundu.
The woman’s mother approached the local police station with the clip. An FIR was filed on April 23. By analysing her cellphone tower location, cops tracked her to Isarpitha Patti village in Ballia.
The raid happened on April 26 morning. Members of two NGOs, Mission Mukti Foundation and Rescue and Relief Foundation, and a team of UP and Bengal cops raided the house.
Before the raid, the Mission Mukti Foundation had written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The panel directed the police superintendent of Ballia to extend all possible support to find the woman and her child.